Exhaust box



Jan. 5, 1932. V w. F. WEISS 1,839,433.

EXHAUST BOX Filed Oct. 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. F. WEISS Jan. 5,1932.

EXHAUS 1' BOX F l 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE E H. W MW w 5F. Mad

Patented Jan. 5, 1932 I ENZEL' F." WEISS,- OF' SAN- JOSE; CALIFORNIA;ASSETS-NOR T0 SiPRAGUE-SELIISGORPG RATION; OFI-IOOPESTON, ILLINOIS, ACOR'PORA TION OF DELAWA-RE nxnnosnnox Application.filedflctober, 12,,19255Serial, No.1 61,943.; Q

My invention relates to devices usedin the packingindustry for heating,thecans or containers after filling, and beforeocapplng, so as toexhaust the imprisoned-air from the 1 contents ofthe container.

vision'of an exhaust box embodying a disk conveyor with improvedmounting means for the individual disks so -thatvwater and steam areexcluded'from the bearings.-

Another object of the invention is the. pro: vision of improved meansfor lubricating the bearings.

lily invention possessesother objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich with the foregoing will be setforth in the followingdescription ofthe preferred form of'iny invention which is illustrated'in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part'of the specification.

the claims.

Referring tothe drawings: t

Figure 1 is a plan View of my exhaust box, the cover being removed andportions of the structure broken. away to shorten the length of theview.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section, the plane of section being,indicated by the line 22. of Figure 1.

7 It is to be understoodthat I donot limit myself to the showing made bythesaid drawiligsand description as I may. adopt variations of thepreferred fOTHLWltlP in-the scope of the invention as set forth-in-Figure 3'is adetailjpartlyin verticalfseef tion, showing the diskmounting;

Figure is a detail partly in vertieallsed' tion, showing-partot' thedriving means for,

A the disk conveyor.

Figure his-a detail'in elevation, showing one ofthe brackets forsupportingthe steam pipes. e

Figure 6"is adetail in vertical section show ing the method of mountingthe drip pan.

' Broadly 'considered, my exhaust box comprises a housing in whichaplurality of rows;

of tangentially arranged toothed carrier: disks are placed; The dislsprovide' n1eans for conveying the cans through the housing, and" inalternate rows the 'disksrevolve in one direction, while in the otherrows the disks revolve in theopposite direction; The disks in anyone'row are not in mesh with each other, but with the two adj acentdisks in the adjoining row. A drive shaft extending transverselyacrossthe rows below the disks is suitably gearedflto a disk structurepref e' rably in two alternate r0ws,so as to distrihute the strain ofthedrivingforce, allof the disks then acting as a single gear train,driven by force applied at two different points in the train. Thedriving shaft; is

driven through suitable clutch mechanism .by

a pulley connected' to any: suitable sourcejof power. The spacingofthedisks is such that a straightline drawn between the centersofrotation of corresponding; disks in alternate rows is substantiallytangent to the adjacent disks of the other rows. Steam pipes fordistributing jetsof steam withii'i'the housing, are arranged coincidentwith planes cutting the centers ofrot'ation,of'corresponding disks inalternate'r.ows..; These pi'pes are supported: at their outer ends" on}suitable headers eX-: tending longitudinally of the outer row ofdisks,.andat the opposite end,,each.pipe terminates in a block which issupported on a: bracket projecting upwardly from atran everse bar belowthe disks. There are aVnum-j her of these bars which also serve tosupport the bearings in which the disks are journaled. A guide rail isarranged on these pipesand directs the cans on the disks back and forthtransversely across the housing, the end disks, which are of course thedisks in the outer rows, carrying the cans thru an arc of approximately300, receiving them at the end of one trip across the housing andstarting them backwardly on the return trip.

As will be seen from an inspection ofFigure 1 of the drawings, there areonly two disks in the assembly within the housing, of

which at least one-half is not of use in carrying the cans forward; theother disks being useful for this purpose over the greater part of theirsurfaces. This gives a large capacity relative to the floor area of themachine, a result also materially affected by the fact that there are arelatively large number of disks, which are individually relativelysmall in diameter. v

' In detail my exhaust box comprises a framework, including'end rails 2and side. rails 3. Legs 4 suitably braced by cross ties 6 support theframe on the floor. Spaced transversely across the frame at suitableintervals are bars 7 which preferably are of rectangular section, andwhich are secured inl the sideframe members 3 by suitable brack ends;and as shown at the right hand end of Figure 1, each two chambers areconnected I by a conduit 16, into the, middle portion of I ter splashedor condensed on the disk cannot which, a conduit 17 feeds lubricant froman oil cup 18 convenientlyacoessible at the side of the machine. I Y

J ournaled in the bearing box on each side of the chamber is a shaft 19,on the upperend of which'is fixed the carrierdisk21 slightly concave asshown, and providedon its periphery with the spur gear teeth 22,prefer,- ably beveled slightly on the upper sides.

The disk is providedwith' ahub 23 from which depends an annular flange24, 91101031 ing the upper end of thebearing, sothat waenter thebearing. The'bearing' is further v protected by the packing ring 26interposed between theupper end of the bearing and the disk hubwithinthe flange. A spiral groove 27 on the shaft carries lubricant overthe upper portion of the shaft and seepage by gravity insureslubrication of the lower portion.

The lower end of the bearing box is closed by the plug 28 in which isseated the ball 29, and a set screw 31 adjustable in the lower end ofthe shaft seats on the ball. There is thus provided a thoroly lubricatedsubstantially frictionless adjustable thrust hearing at the lower end ofeach shaft.

The radius of each carrier disk is but little greater than the diameterof the largest container to be handled, and the arrangement of parts issuch that in plan view, the disks are arranged in an even number ofrows, preferably four or six, the disks in any row being out ofengagement with each other, but in mesh with two adjacent disks in theadj oining row. Thus all the disks are geared together in a single geartrain, and the direction of rotation of the disks in one row in oppositeto that of the disks in the adjoining row or rows, and a line passingthru the centers of corresponding disks in alternate rows issubstantially tangent to each of two disks in the other rows.

Since all the disks are connected, driving one disk will drive theentire train, but in order to distribute the stress, I prefer to driveat two points. Two of the disks 21 are mounted on shafts 36 which extenddownwardly thru the bearing box 37. A bevel gear 38 is fixed on thelower end of the shaft and a ball thrust bearing 39, protected by thepackingring 41, held in place by the split spring ring 42, is interposedbetween the hub of the disk and the upper end of the bearing. Thebearing box is otherwise similar to the box 13, already explained.

Extending across the machine below the gears 38, which preferably arearranged on shafts of disks in alternate rows, is a shaft 43, on whichare fixed gears 44 in mesh with the gears 38. The velocity of the shaftis out down by connection thru the gears 46, with the drive shaft 47,between which and the driving pulley 48, is interposed the clutch 49.controlled by the long rock shaft 50, having the handles 51'at the endsof the machine, so that the operator can quickly reach a control handlefrom any point about the machine.

Extending longitudinally along the outer edgeof the outer row of diskson each side, and supported on brackets 52, are header pipes 53 and 54.These pipes are joined by a cross pipe 56, below the disks, connected bythe pipe 57, with a suitable source of steam under pressure. Extendingfrom the pipe 53 transversely across the disk are pipes 58, spaced alittle above the surface ofthe disk and coincident with a vertical planedetermined by the axes of'rotation of corresponding disks in alternaterows. The outer end of each pipe 58 is carried in the top of a bracket59 projecting upwardly between the disks, and clamped at its lower endto a cross bar 7, on which adj ustability is secured by the screws 61,so that the pipe may be properly lined up with the disks.

In a similar manner, pipes 62 are supported at one end in the pipe 54,and extend across the disks, between the pipes 58, to similar supportingbrackets. All the branch pipes 58 and 62 are perforated so that livesteam is admitted into the exhaust box thru them.

Mounted on the brackets 63 secured to the two header pipes and on thebrackets 59, are the guide rails 66 and 6? evenly spaced apart andextending continuously thru the machine from the feed disk 68 to thedischarge disk 69. These rails extend around the outer half of theperipheries of the disks in the outer rows and lie close to the steampipes 58 and 62. The distance between the rails is slightly greater thanthe largest can to be handled and slightly less than the radius of thedisks, so that as the containers are carried over the revolving disksthey travel in substantially a straight line across the rows, thencircularly around the disk in the outer row and back again in a straightline to the other outer row. At the left hand side of Figure 1, thearrows show the direction of the can travel.

It will be observed that as the can moves across the rows of disks itpasses from one disk as to which it is on one side of the center, to thenext-disk, as to which it is on he opposite side of the center, thesedisks revolving in opposite directions.

Because of the relatively large number of disks counting transversely,and their small size relative to the size of the cans carried, there isa minimum of waste, or inactive space, on the disks; and in a packingplant this economy of space occupied is of very great i1nportance, slnceit gives large capacity for the amount of floor area occupied.

At one end of the exhaust box a feed disk 68 is arranged, on which theentering cans are placed or fed, and at the opposite end, a receiving ordischarge disk 69 carries the treated cans forward to the next step inthe canning process. In order to confine the steam within the device,side walls 73 and end walls We are secured to the frame, extendingupwardly far enough to clear the cans in the box. The upperedges of theside and end walls are provided with a channel or edging 76, and a cover77, having a down turned flange about its edge, is fitted into thechannel edging, so as to make a tight closure on the box and at the sametime one which is easily removable.

In order to prevent leakage of steam from the exhaust box, bottom pans78, are hung -over the hooked arms 'may be engaged.

On the opposite side rails 3 are pivotally ounted latches 86, adapted tobe engaged under the edge of the reenforcing angleiron on-that side. Byswinging the'latches to clear the edge of each pan"? 8, theyn ay belowered sufliciently to permit the opposite sides tobe unhooked, so thatthe pans may be removed to give access to the under portion of themachine. p 1

I claim: 7 4

1. An exhaust box for containers comprising a casing, an even number ofrows of tangentially arranged carrier disks arranged longitudinally insaid casing, means for rotating the disks in alternate rows in onedirection and in the other rows in the opposite direction, a header pipeextending longitudinally of the box, perforated transverse branch pipesextending from the header and overlying the peripheries of disks in theodd numbered rows and the centers of the disks in the even numbered rowsexcept the last row, and means for supplying said pipes with steam.

2. An exhaust box for containers comprising a casing, an even number ofrows of tangentially arranged carrier disks arranged longitudinally insaid casing, means for ro-, tating the disks in alternate rows in onedirection and in the other rows in the opposite direction a header 3i 3eextendin lon itudiing a frame, a plurality of rows of tangentiallyarranged carrier disks, a bearing box in which each disk is journaled, abar extending transversely across said frame below the correspondingdisks of each row, and brackets on each bar for supporting the bearingboxes of the overlyingdisks.

a. An exhaust box for containers comprising a frame, a plurality of rowsof tangentially arranged carrier disks, a bearing box in which each diskis journaled, a bar of rectangular section extending across said framebelow the corresponding disks ofeach row, brackets integral with saidbearing boxes,

and means for clamping to each bar the bear-- ing box brackets of theoverlying disks.

5. An exhaust box for containers comprising a casing, a plurality oftangentially disposed disks in said casing arranged in two outer roWsand an even number of rows be: tween the outer rows, means forrotatingthe disks in alternate rows in one direction and in the otherrows in the opposite direction, and a continuous guide arranged adjacentthe disks so that portions of'the guide are disposed adjacent each diskin the outer rows to retain the containers thereon during at leastone-half of its revolution, said guide having straight, portions fordirecting the containers from thedisks in the outer IOW'lIl astraightline across the disks of the intervening rows to the disks of theopposite outer row.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

' WENZEL F. WVEISS.

